How low can they go? Cities take action to reduce air pollution and save lives

Air pollution is a bigger killer in Europe than obesity or alcohol: nearly half a million Europeans die each year from its effects.

Particulate matter (a complex mixture of extremely small dust particles and liquid droplets) and nitrogen dioxide (an invisible, but foul-smelling gas) are particularly harmful to health. As the New Scientist has explained:

“…nitrogen dioxide lowers birthweight, stunts lung growth in children and increases the risk of respiratory infections and cardiovascular disease. Particulate pollutants like soot cause a wider range of problems, including lung cancer.”

Motor vehicles are the main source of these emissions in urban areas. For this reason, European Union regulations introduced in 2010 set down that nitrogen oxide should average no more than 40 micrograms per cubic metre over a year. These limits are regularly breached. By the end of January this year, London had reached its legal air pollution limit for the whole of 2018. Scientists say that even these limits are unsafe – the 30,000 deaths each year attributed to particulate pollution are due to exposure levels below the legal limit.

Getting into the zone

Many local authorities have been trying to tackle the issue by getting the most polluting vehicles out of their city centres. As Traffic Technology International has noted:

“From Athens to Aberdeen, and from London to Ljubljana, there is an eclectic smorgasbord of initiatives with over 200 low emission zones (LEZ) around Europe excluding more polluting vehicles, and some cities employing road-user charging to deter vehicles from entering.”

London has adopted especially ambitious goals to clean up the capital’s air. As of October 2017, older vehicles driving in London between 7am and 6pm have needed either to meet the minimum toxic emission standards (Euro 4/IV for both petrol and diesel vehicles and Euro 3 for motorised tricycles and quadricycles) or to pay an extra daily charge of £10.00 (in addition to the £11.50 Congestion Charge).

Air quality campaigners have welcomed the T Charge, but not everyone is happy. The Federation of Small Businesses has voiced concern that the charge will have a negative impact on small and micro-businesses that are already struggling with high property, employment and logistics costs. Shaun Bailey, a Conservative member of the Greater London Assembly, has described the T Charge – and the mayor’s plan to bring the launch of London’s ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) forward to 2019 – as “vanity projects” that will have little effect on air quality.

National demands and local plans

London’s T Charge is one way of tackling air pollution, but there are other methods, such as retrofitting bus fleets, improving concessionary travel and supporting cyclists. Some UK cities are already taking action, while in Germany and Belgium, even more radical ideas are being mooted.

Last summer, the UK government set out its plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations. The document made it clear that local authorities have a leading role to play in achieving improvements in air quality.

By the end of this month (March 2018), local authorities are expected to submit their own initial schemes for tackling the issue, with final plans to be submitted by December. The government promised support for councils, including a £255m Implementation Fund to help them prepare and deliver their plans, and the opportunity to bid for additional money from a Clean Air Fund.

It was hoped that these measures would lower the poisonous emissions. However, last month (February 2018) the High Court ruled that the government’s approach to tackling pollution was not sufficient, and ordered urgent changes. But even if the subsequent plan is accepted, many feel that the only sure way to solve the problem is to eliminate traffic from our cities. Others counter that this will damage the economy.

Innovating towards a cleaner future

Statistics and real-world examples such as those provided above, serve to demonstrate why projects such as Greenwave – a partnership comprising Idox Transport, Birmingham City Council, CheckedSafe and Amey – are important for the sustainability of cities worldwide. Trialling innovative ways to help local authorities tackle air quality and achieve the Government’s Clean Air Zone ambition is a global issue that Greenwave hopes to serve. By using digital technologies to facilitate a real-time exchange of traffic light data to fleet drivers via a specially-designed App, it is hoped drivers can adjust their driving style accordingly and keep moving through green lights.

Currently being trialled in Birmingham, savings of approximately 10-15% on fuel are predicted – purely through supporting drivers to ‘ride the green wave’ rather than making repeated speed changes.

Although the Innovate UK-funded project is still in trial phase, this intelligent use of data and technology has the potential to be replicated nationwide if results are positive.

So, while the battle of Britain’s air quality may have only just begun, projects like Greenwave may be just the answer to accelerate the charge for cleaner air.